Woken
by Gemna Destiny Seer
Summary: Harry Potter has hit his all-time low. His godfather has just died and he is once again stuck at Durzkaban. Then a simple letter arrives that puts everything he knows in question. Coming to the startling conclusion that he is being used, Harry asks himself who can he trust, now that he has been woken.
1. Chapter 1: Alarm Clock

Chapter 1: Alarm Clock

The letter lay unopened on the rickety desk in the smallest room in Number 4 Privet Drive. It seemed to taunt the room's only occupant with the knowledge it claims. The Gringotts seal is clearly visible on it. The young boy sighs, knowing that there is no avoiding the contents of the letter. He opens the notice.

To the Scion of House Potter:

Despite your continued insistence that we not contact you, we at Gringotts feel it is our duty to inform you that you are the primary benefactor of the late Lord Sirius Orion Black. The will of this most prestigious noble shall be read at our humble bank on the day of July 10th at 10 o'clock in the morning, should you choose to attend.

Sincerely,

Bearclaw, Black Accounts Manager

Ragnok, Director of Gringotts Bank

Harry's mind blanked, he had known that Sirius was gone but this made it official. He looked at the letter again. Something wasn't right about this, as far as he knows he had never been contacted by the goblins before. This needed further investigation.

Three hours later at Gringotts Bank:

To Bearclaw:

I thank you for your missive in regards to my godfather's will. However, I must admit ignorance as to why you were reluctant to contact me. To my knowledge I have never contacted or been contacted by you. If you clarify this statement for me I would be most grateful. Also, I noticed that my letter was addressed to 'the Scion of House Potter', I must again admit ignorance as to what this means.

Sincerely,

Harry Potter

The goblin in question started swearing in the goblin tongue before quickly heading off to see Director Ragnok. If the contents of the letter held true, heads would roll, starting with the imposter that had been writing them. It wouldn't do to upset a member of their longtime allies, the Potters.

Hey, y'all! I'm back. Okay, so bad news first, my notes for 'Twined' have vanished, knowing my luck they are somewhere near Tokyo by now. Nothing I can really do about that. So until further notice that story is on hiatus. More bad news, for those of you who care, I have removed 'Harry Potter and the Mad Ramblings of Homeschoolers' from the site due to lack of notes and lack of interest. Now, to the good stuff... I shouldn't be able to lose the notes for this story! Go me! Something else will go wrong... I foresee it. Anyways, live laugh love (and promise that the next chapters will be longer).

-The Seer


	2. Chapter 2: Air Horn

Chapter 2: Air Horn

Tap, tap, tap. Harry looked over at the window to see an unfamiliar owl trying to get in. Opening the window for the letter bearing bird Harry untied the letter from the proud bird that quickly took off again. Harry sighed, he had asked that people leave him alone for a little while, so who would write to him? Opening the letter, Harry groaned, Dumbledore. Why can't the old man just leave him alone?

Harry,

I have noticed that you received an announcement of the reading of Sirius's will. I must ask you not to go because you would not be safe outside of the wards. You must remain within the wards so no one can hurt you.

Dumbledore

Harry balled up the parchment and flung it into a corner. That settled it! He was going to the will reading even if it was only to stick it to the old man! 'The wards will keep you safe'? Bullshit! He had received years of punishment and abuse at the hands of his 'relatives', keep him safe from Death Snackers, maybe but they didn't protect him from his 'family'. Screw this! He was leaving the Dursely's home ASAP!

Three days later:

It had taken a while but he had finally figured out when Mundungus Fletcher was on guard duty. He was breaking out, tonight.

Later that day:

Harry cracked open the door to his room. He could hear his cousin and uncle's snores, they were all asleep. Opening the door all the way, he hauled his trunk out and carefully carried it down the stairs, trying not to make any noise. He put his trunk next to the door before going to get his other things.

Quietly unlocking the door, Harry crept outside and set off down the street. Fletcher was passed out under an invisibility cloak and wouldn't be waking until dawn, as usual. After he had walked a few blocks, he stuck out his wand and was, once again, nearly run over by the knightbus.

"Hey, Ernie, look! It's Neville!" Stan said to the elderly bus driver. Harry smiled and quickly paid the fee for the bus to take him to the Leaky Cauldron. After being tossed onto the floor every five minutes for who knows how long, the bus arrived at the Leaky Cauldron.

Harry exited the death trap, I mean, knightbus and after pulling a hat on low over his forehead, entered the pub.

"A room for the week." Harry said in a deep voice, not wanting to be mobbed by fans and/or Death Munchers. Tom handed him a key and Harry dragged his trunk up to his new home, for the week. It is July 1st.

The next day:

To the Scion of House Potter:

It would appear there are many discrepancies within your account. Please come to Gringotts Bank at your earliest convenience. Ask for Bearclaw, manager of Potter accounts.

Sincerely,

Bearclaw, Potter Accounts Manager

"Looks like I'm going to the bank." Harry said and he stuffed a hat on his head before heading down to the alley.

Somewhere in Scotland, an old bas...man smiled. His weapon would never disobey him. If only he knew...

Gringotts Bank:

Harry walked up to a teller and waited until the goblin finished writing notations within his ledger. "I wish to speak with Bearclaw, Manager for the Potter Accounts, please." The teller looked slightly surprised with this polite request, used to dealing with stuck up purebloods who order everyone around. Compared to them, this young man was a breath of fresh air.

"Right this way, young sir," the teller said, causing a bunch of purebloods to start at the almost friendly way the goblin spoke. They immediately thought that this young man must be someone very important before they saw his tattered cloak. Who was the young man that received such respect from the goblins?

Harry followed the teller down a series of hallways before coming to a stop before a door with a rampant griffin crest. He knocked and heard a gruff, "come in," before he opened the door and walked in.

"Good morning, Bearclaw," Harry said as the door closed behind him. "I am Harry Potter. I understand that you wanted to see me?"

"Ah, welcome, Scion Potter. It is good to see you. I'm afraid that before we can proceed we must confirm your identity. If you could take this dagger and allow a few drops of blood onto this parchment, I would be most grateful." Harry took the simple dagger and made a small cut upon his finger, allowing several drops of blood to fall before the cut healed. A moment later the parchment read: Hadrian James Potter, son of James Charles Potter and Lily Marie Evans Potter.

"Hadrian?" Harry muttered, "I never knew that." Bearclaw frowned, this was worst than they thought.

"Well, Scion Potter, I am glad to meet you finally." the goblin said. "We were supposed to meet no later than your eleventh birthday but instead you were brought straight to your trust vault by a bribed goblin, who has since been... dealt with. In an ideal world, this never would have happened but it did, therefore we must work with it."

"Thank you," Harry said, before frowning, "why do you keep calling me 'Scion Potter'?"

The goblin was shocked, he didn't know? He was the heir to one of the most politically powerful houses in the wizarding world and he didn't know!? "I call you Scion Potter because you are the heir to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter and once you become an adult, you will take up the mantle of Lord Potter." Harry's mouth dropped open, that was not what he expected to hear. "We will need to test you for any other houses that you can inherit but that will only take a moment." Bearclaw rose from his seat and took a quill and inkwell from a shelf behind his desk. Harry didn't move, he was in shock. "Scion Potter? Scion Potter!" Harry was jolted out of whatever la-la land he had just visited. "Please take the dagger and fill this inkwell with your blood." Harry quickly followed the account manager's instruction. When he was finished the goblin took the quill and, after filling it with blood and the potion that had been in the inkwell before, placed it on a large piece of parchment. The quill began to write.

Five minutes later it stopped and Bearclaw looked at it in surprise. A normal procedure like this would take at least fifteen minutes. He examined the parchment, his eyes growing wider with each line he read. 'This is very, very bad.' the goblin thought. He passed the parchment to Harry, who was watching him apprehensively. Harry looked at the parchment.

Hadrian James Potter, 'Harry', son of James Charles Potter and Lily Marie Evans Potter

Lines to Inherit: Blocked

Gifts: Blocked

Magical Status: Blocked

"I'm going to take a guess and say that this is a bad thing," Harry said, as he put the parchment back on the desk. Bearclaw's grip tightened on his chair as he nodded yes. "So... Now what?"

"Now, Scion Potter, we go and visit the Healers and try to get those disgusting, illegal blocks off of your mind, body, magic and blood. And after that, when we have a full list of the wrongs done to you, the ones who did this to you will face goblin justice, if I have anything to say about it." the goblin had practically spat out the words and he quickly stood, gesturing for Harry to do the same. Together the two marched out of the office towards the Healers.

That's all for now folks! I am glad everyone is enjoying it so far! Last I checked I had two reviews, eight favorites and twelve followers!

And speaking of those reviewers...

Ecila Raveniz Thgilyad: I love the goblins, too.

Imill123: Your guess is right on target! Don't worry it will be... fitting. (insert evil laugh here)

Thank you all for supporting me!

I foresee lots of magical gifts and the emergence of a true Marauder's son!

-The Seer


	3. Chapter 3: Ice Water

Chapter 3: Ice Water

Recap: Bearclaw and Harry are going to the goblin Healers.

It was a rather peaceful day at the goblin hospital. No one had had any accidents with the carts. No one had gotten into a duel. No moronic humans had tried to get closer to the 'pretty lizards' (dragons) and ended up with sever burns. Then a storm in the form of a very pissed off Potter Accounts Manager burst thru the door ranting about blocks on someone. Eventually he was reduced to swearing, very loudly I might add, in the goblin tongue. The Healers turned to the small boy that had followed the angry goblin into the ward.

"Do you know what he is going on about?" one of the Healers asked Harry. He shrugged.

"Apparently I have some very extensive blocks on my mind, body, magic and blood." Harry said, "and as for why I'm not freaking out like him, one, I'm muggle raised, so I don't really know what it means and two, he's freaking out enough for both of us." Harry jerked his thumb at the still swearing goblin.

"Why won't he just shut up?" one of the Junior Healers complained. There was a silent agreement with the statement.

"Why don't we slip him a mickey?" Harry asked and at the looks of confusion elaborated, "a mickey is a muggle term used to describe when someone gives another person a sleeping draught without telling said person drinking it." Two of the Senior Healers smirked at each other, several days ago they had lost a bet to the other goblin and honor must be upheld.

"Here, Bearclaw, drink," one of the two said, handing the account manager a sleeping draught, who promptly drank and fell over snoring.

"Should we put him on a bed?" one of the Junior Healers asked but a quick look at the Senior Healers made him 'forget' his question.

"Well, then, now that that is taken care of, why don't we take a look at you, mister...?"

"My name's Harry. Harry Potter."

"Well, Mr. Potter, let's see how many blocks and health problems you have."

Thirty minutes later:

"I'm starting to think that Bearclaw had the right idea." the Healer stated, "This is the single, most disgusting set of blocks I have ever seen. To block someone's magic like this, a child's no less, is simply foul and to leave a soul leach within the boy! Monstrous! I'm afraid that we can't remove the blocks here, we will have to take you to a ritual chamber and we will need cursebreakers. The nerve of those humans! To leave a child like this? Disgraceful! And who was the moron that beat and starved the child? His growth has been stunted, his eyesight is terrible, he has scars covering his entire back and most of his bones have been broken at least once! And they think we are monsters!" The Healer than lapsed into the goblin tongue commanding the other goblins to find some cursebreakers and prepare the ritual chamber.

Bearclaw just slept.

Ten minutes later in the Ritual Chamber:

"I must warn you, Mr. Potter, this will not be pleasant." the head cursebreaker said to the teenager. Harry nodded and lay down on the alter that had been prepared for the ritual. The team of cursebreakers surrounded him and began chanting. The small boy that lay nude on the alter writhed in pain as the leach in his scar fought against its destruction. Chanting increased before the leach spiraled out of the now unconscious boy's scar, vanishing in a flash of light.

The cursebreakers drank replenishing potions before they returned to chanting. This time the chanting was not the fast and near deadly pace that it was before, no, now it sounded similar to a heartbeat, slow, steady and life-giving. The scars on his body, minus the scar from the basilisk, vanished leaving clean, unblemished skin. He grew several inches and then, one by one, they unlocked his abilities and blood. Finally, three hours after the start of the ritual (which was record breaking in itself, it was more than twice as long as any other similar ritual and had many of the cursebreakers and healers gritting their teeth at the injustices done to the poor boy), they were done.

The next day:

He felt good, better than he could remember feeling in a long time. He opened his eyes. Where were his glasses? Wait, he could already see everything!

"Oh, good. You're awake." Harry looked at the person who had spoken, it was Bearclaw. "We need to discuss a few things today, including, but not limited to, your inheritance, your lordship, your vaults and what you are not supposed to suggest to a couple of Healers who lost a bet to me a few days prior." Harry smiled sheepishly at the goblin, who was obviously trying to not laugh at what he had done, that battle was lost before it began and Bearclaw began to chuckle. "Serves me right for not checking what it is I'm drinking before hand. Now, can you get up? We have lots of ground to cover today." The new and improved Hadrian James Potter swung his legs out of bed and stood up, he was taller, that much was sure. Idly, Harry wondered what other changes had occurred before following the still chuckling Bearclaw out of the room.

Back in Bearclaw's office:

"Well, Scion Potter, why don't we repeat yesterday's attempt at finding out what your lines and abilities are, shall we?" and so, Harry once again filled the potioned inkwell with his blood and watched as Bearclaw took the quill and set it to the parchment. "Now, seeing as I have no idea how long this will take, why don't we go over the Potter estate?"

Fifteen minutes later:

"What do you mean I own one fourth of both Quiditch Supplies and Zonko's?"

Five minutes later:

"I have a manor?"

Twenty minutes later:

"I have penthouses in almost every major country in the world?"

This continued for three hours, fifteen minutes and one lunch break. Finally, the pen stopped writing.

"Well, Scion Potter, let's see what you have here," Bearclaw picked up the paper and scanned it, his eyes growing larger with every line. He soon reached the bottom, his eyes as big a saucers. "Well, Scion Potter, I am officially blown away. Never before have I seen this amount of power in one person, both politically speaking and magically speaking. Here," Bearclaw handed the parchment to Harry, who nearly dropped it when he saw the sheer amount of writing upon it.

(Author's note: I could have been really evil and ended the chapter here but I already got one review from someone who doesn't take kindly to cliffies. I Foresaw some flames if I ended it here so I decided to play nice and not, even if it is at the cost of not getting the chapter out to you faster.)

The Parchment:

Hadrian James Potter, 'Harry', son of James Charles Potter and Lily Marie Evans Potter

Lines to Inherit:

Potter (Lord): Thru James Potter

Black (Lord): Thru Dorea Potter née Black and by the Will of Sirius Black

Draven (Lord): Thru Marriage to Potter Line

Flamel (Lord): Thru Marriage to Perenelle Flamel née Potter

Perevell: (Lord): Thru James Potter

Slytherin (Lord): Right by Conquest

Hufflepuff (Lord): Thru Lily Evans Potter

Ravenclaw (Lord): Thru Lily Evans Potter

Gryffindor (Lord): Thru James Potter

La Fey (High Lord): Thru Lily Evans Potter

Emrys (High Lord): Right by Magic

Flameborn (Duke, Lord Peacekeeper): Right by Choice of Fate

Gifts (sorted by different lines inherited from):

Light Magic

Transfiguration

Charms

Persuasion (aka 'Potter Charm')

Grey Magic

Metamorphmagus

Natural Magics

Dragon's Breath

Wand Crafting

Blacksmithing

Forest Mage

Alchemy

Perfect Recall

Comprehension

Obliviation Resistance

Death Magic

Beast Friend

Defense Magics

Storm Mage

Parsel Magic

Potions

Beast Speak

Water Mage (Water Mage)

Healing Magic

Arithmancy

Telepathy

Terra Mage (Earth Elemental)

Archery

Runic Magics

Occulmency

Wind Magic (Air Elemental)

Swordsmanship

Battle Magic

Ligamency

Fire Mage (Fire Elemental)

Warding

Wandless Magic

Ritual Magic

Soul Magic

Multi-animagus (non-magical animals)

Illusion

Conjuration

Ancient Magic

Multi-animagus (Magical Beings)

Extended Life

Elfin (both High and House) Magic

Goblin Magic

Mer Magic

Centaur Magic

Various other Magical Beings Magic

Gift of Tongues

Magical Status:

High Archmage (Note: full potential not yet reached)

Even Harry knew enough about Lordships and power to know that he was easily the most powerful person on the planet. He reread the last part and started hyperventilating. The last High Archmage had been Merlin!

"Why don't we review your vaults, Scion Potter-Black-Draven-Flamel-Perevell-Slytherin-Hufflepuff-Ravenclaw-Gryffindor-La Fey-Emrys-Flameborn?" Bearclaw said and Harry glared at him. "We can also look at the importance of the different families."

"Very well," Harry said, as Bearclaw sent for the ledgers to Harry's newly acquired vaults. A younger goblin soon brought back eleven large ledgers and Bearclaw took another from behind his desk. Harry's eyes widened as he took in the large books.

"Let's begin."

Yes! Another chapter done! I will be going back to school so I don't know how quickly I will be able to post the next chapter. But I would like to take the time to thank some of my reviewers.

Ecila Raveniz Thgilyad- I make no promises but I think I did better this time.

Kine X- Thank you for your review.

athenakitty- There will be bashing and you shall see.

Helenap- Don't worry he will.

Snape Lover 1981- Thank you for your review.

horselovr171- Don't worry, he is.

.Vinnie.D- Normally I would write more but I wanted to end the chapters there.

ArrancarMaiden- Thank you for your review.

That's all for now, folks! I Foresee some treachery!

-The Seer


	4. Chapter 4: Fire Alarm

Chapter 4: Fire Alarm

*Warning: was extremely tired when I wrote this. And it sort of resembles a crack fic. Sorry.*

telepathy

"talking"

{elvish}

[goblin tongue]

~Parseltongue~

^mer language^

#centaurs language#

Recap: Harry and Bearclaw are going to review his accounts, starting with the Potter account.

"So according to this, I should have about one and a half billion galleons?" Harry asked, incredulously, obviously not believing that he had that amount of money, as he looked at the ledger for the Potter accounts. Unless there it was a lord's account or going to be a very important lord's vault, all accounting was done by hand. He would be having all of the ledgers keyed to the vaults so that they would automatically record transactions.

"Yes," Bearclaw said, "we won't know the exact amount before the runner comes back with the updating runes." Harry cursed the stupidity of choosing Care of Magical Creatures and Divination instead of Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. "It will take a while before they have all twelve sets ready, so why don't I tell you the history of some of the unknown families?" Harry nodded, thankful that Bearclaw was a very laid back goblin (at least as far as goblins go), probably a product of working with the Potters for over fifty years. "Very well, let's start with Draven. In the wizarding world, the name Draven is often thought of as powerful dragon hunters but this is not necessarily true. Indeed, they were the ones you called if you had a dragon problem and in a few days the creature would be gone but what they did with it would never be found out. You see they were all Forest Mages, a trait you appear to have inherited. Forest Mages can communicate with many of the great magical creatures, not as well as a 'Beast' Speaker but well enough. They were responsible for creating the first Dragon Reserve, the one that you own today." Harry's eyes widened, was that even possible? "Now, I'm assuming you know about the founders and the Flamels?" Harry nodded again. "Good. Now, Emrys and Le Fay, two names that I never thought would belong to the same person. You are the magical heir of Merlin and the blood heir of Morganna." Harry just sat there, his eyes bugged out and his mouth hanging open. For a moment the goblin and the shocked teen just stared at each other. However, they were interrupted from their staring contest by a knock at the door. "Come in!" Bearclaw called, the door opened to reveal the runner goblin with the key runes, who quickly got to work on the ledgers, ignoring them.

"Okay, that was unexpected," Harry said. "What can you tell me about the Flameborn?"

"Well, Scion Potter, I can't tell you much about them because I don't know much." Bearclaw said, apologetically. "They disappeared shortly after Merlin emerged. All I know is that they hold the first vault and they helped to create Gringotts. All other records have been lost." The goblin finished putting the runes on the ledgers and quickly left. "Ah, here we are, the Potter accounts. And their total worth is..." Bearclaw's eyes grew wide as he read the number before they hardened. He passed the ledger to Harry and their he saw the offending number: ~4.5 million galleons. It was supposed to be three times that! He started looking for a cause, not finding one in the main accounts, apart from routine transactions, Harry turned to the page that held his trust vault's transaction's, the only other vault that the Potter's owned. And there it was, three times a year, every year, since he had been placed with the Dursely's, someone with the initials 'A.P.W.B.D.' had emptied his trust vault. Harry frowned, before his eyes widened, his photographic memory making itself know. A.P.W.B.D. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. The Headmaster. The man he had trusted for everything. The one he had defended, even raised an army with his name on it! And the whole time, he had been robbing Harry, no, Hadrian. Hadrian refused to answer to the nickname that he was famous for. The whole time the Headmaster had been robbing him blind.

"Dumbledore." Hadrian spat, a look of pure loathing on his face, "what gave him the right?"

"He may not have been the only one," Bearclaw said and he lifted large book up before casting a few spells on it. Noticing Hadrian's curious look he smiled, "Gringotts has a way of tracking individual Galleons, it will take a moment but we will soon know where the galleons went after they were taken."

Fifteen minutes later:

"It should be ready now," Bearclaw said, having spent the last quarter hour watching Hadrian fume. Together, they looked at the ledger's final results.

Total Funds Taken: ~1 billion galleons

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore: 3 million galleons

Molly Weasley: ~ 2 million galleons

Hermione Granger: 500,000 galleons, in payments of one hundred thousand a year since she started Hogwarts for watching and spying on the Weapon.

Ron Weasley: 500,000 galleons, in payments of one hundred thousand a year since he started Hogwarts for watching and spying on the Weapon.

Ginny Weasley: 400,000 galleons, in payments of one hundred thousand a year since she started Hogwarts for watching and spying on the Weapon.

Mrs. Figg: 150,000 galleons, in payments of ten thousand a year since Harry arrived at the Dursely's for making sure the Weapon was brought up correctly.

Poppy Pomphery: 2 million galleons, in payments of 400,000 a year since Hadrian started Hogwarts for keeping the Weapon from becoming to powerful.

Other names were listed but none hurt as much as the first seven. Was that all he was to them? A weapon? Slowly Hadrian felt the anger and frustration build within him. Bearclaw, who had seen Hadrian sitting far too quietly on the other side of the desk, dived under the desk as Hadrian's eyes started to glow and the ground began to shake.

Gringotts Lobby:

People started screaming as the ground shook beneath them. They ran for cover as dust shook from the ceiling. From the depths they heard an animalistic roar of some incredibly powerful being. One wiseass got out a sign that read 'the end is near'. The shaking soon stopped and said wiseass proceeded to carry the sign with him for four months, sparking a very large 'end of the world party' that lasted the entire time. Anyways, back to Hadrian...

Bearclaw's office:

Hadrian let out a roar of fury that was heard across Diagon Alley (see above) but was quickly distracted by a muffled, "if you want we can give you a private reading of Sirius Black's will." Sufficiently distracted, Hadrian stared at the desk that Bearclaw was hiding under. Said goblin noticed and quickly returned to a standing position, looking faintly embarrassed. "As I was saying, we can arrange for you to have a private reading of your godfather's will."

Still incredibly pissed off but no longer in danger of blowing things up (not that he didn't want to...), Hadrian and Bearclaw made their way down to the Estate Settlement Department, where a young goblin brought them the will of one Sirius Orion Black.

(Note: When we get to the will reading you will see the will but I want you to be shocked along with everyone *cough* Weasel and Beaver *cough* else.)

Sirius, with the exception of a few small monetary gifts and requests for Hadrian to fulfill, had left everything to him and emancipated him! Bearclaw was practically bouncing as he realized how important the young Potter had become. A brassed off Hadrian was practically dragged back to the office by a goblin that had obviously failed the 'how to act like you know everything and never show any emotion' class.

Bearclaw's office:

Bearclaw had managed to calm down by the time they had reached the his office so when they entered the two were able to calmly sit, staving off their emotions (pissed and excited respectively), able to have a decent conversation. They stared at one another, waiting for the other to speak. Bearclaw broke first, "Well, why don't we give you your lordship rings?" gesturing to the rings that had appeared on the table. Hadrian nodded and opened the first, Potter. As he slid on the ring he was assaulted by memories of the past wearers. He repeated this with each ring, all the rings melding together on the one finger. Taking time to process the new information that he had no idea how to use. Finally, he got to the last three, Le Fey, Emrys and Flameborn.

Taking the Le Fey ring, he slid it on his finger, knowledge of how to set wards, use rituals, control soul magic and do it all without a wand ran through his mind. He also learned an interesting tidbit of information, Morganna and Merlin were never enemies, in fact they were trained together, they were sparring partners and apparently someone told someone else, who embellished the story and told another person. Eventually the tale did not at all resemble the real story. And if that wasn't going to turn the world on its head the next piece of information most certainly would: Merlin, it appears, was not as powerful as Morganna and was always losing magical duels to her. However, he was very good at combining magic and the sword. That is what made Merlin legendary, not how magically powerful he was. He quickly repeated this with the Emrys ring. He then learned another interesting fact, Morganna and Merlin were ennobled at the same time, for the same thing, protecting the king at their own risk. Hadrian was the second person to wear that ring.

Finally, Hadrian came to the last ring. The ring that did not have an owner by the time Merlin rose to legend and hadn't had once since. A family that owned the first vault but no one knew anything about them. He picked up the ring and he knew there would be know going back. Hadrian put on the ring, he had expected the now familiar rush of memories as the ring sent him the information about the family but all he got was a simple message, visit the vault, if you are judged worthy you will learn, with a flash of a memory of a crystal with eternity flames entombed within it and a hand reaching out to touch it.

Bearclaw looked at the young noble, who had a puzzled look upon his face. "Bearclaw," the boy said, "can we go down to the vaults?" Bearclaw nodded, and led the way out of the office.

Deep underneath the Gringotts forty-five minutes later:

"Here we are," Bearclaw said, as they reached the first vault. Hadrian was the first one out of the rickety cart, closely followed by the older goblin. "No one noes how to enter it." Bearclaw said, looking at the young man, who smirked and raised his ring, pressing it into the vault door. He stepped back as the large door swung open. The entrance to the vault was covered with a think white mist that obscured the contents of the ancient room. Hadrian took a deep breath and plunged forward, quickly disappearing into the fog.

He emerged in a small cavern that held the beautiful Fire Crystal. He stepped forward, his fingers outstretched and brushed the crystal.

Pain. Excruciating pain, burst within him. He was being burned alive! He saw his memories flash before his eyes, then the pain faded.

You have been found worthy There was another burst of pain, then he saw a blue sky, before he collapsed, his body unable to take the abuse.

Later, Time: unknown, Location: unknown, Status: in a hospital, again, Currently: wondering what he did in his past life to deserve this...

{So, you're awake now?"} a voice said to Hadrian's right in what was definitely not English but somehow he understood it. Hadrian nodded, once again grateful that he no longer needed glasses. {Good! You can tell us what has happened since my death!}

"Huh?" Hadrian said, feeling like he should know something but didn't, like when Hermione, no Beaver, showed him up in class. "What are you talking about? Where are we? How long have I been out? Who are you?"

The young man who was sitting next to his bed looked at him in confusion, {Didn't you have a mentor? You are the new Duke Flameborn, right?} Hadrian nodded. {Then how is it possible for you to come here without knowing anything? The Flameborn before you should have explained...} Hadrian was shaking his head.

"The Flameborn disappeared over a thousand years ago and the line died out. I am the Duke Flameborn by the Choice of Fate, I didn't even know what was happening when I touched the crystal."

{A thousand years?} the young man said softly, {I hope it isn't to much to ask what happened to my apprentices, I hope they haven't been forgotten. Do you know what became of Morganna and Merlinus?} Hadrian gaped at the young man.

"You're Master Forthsain?" Hadrian asked, his eyes wide. "Yes, I know what happened to them. I am Morganna's blood heir and Merlin's magical one." Hadrian held up his hand to display the two High Lord rings, he continued, "Merlin is considered to be the greatest High Archmage that ever existed and people revere him almost like a god. Morganna, on the other hand, was not remembered as well. She is, according to the history books, Merlin's greatest enemy and they had many great battles. I am assuming that what really happened was that someone saw them sparring and told the story in a tavern when he was drunk. I intend to fix that little fact as soon as I can." Master Forthsain smiled at him.

{Good. Come, you should be able to stand now.} Hadrian swung his legs to the side and stood up. {Let us go to the hall, it is Sarah's turn to make food and we don't want to miss that!}

Later, Time: two equivalent hours since Arrival, Location: unknown, Status: full of good food, Currently: about to learn the History of the Flameborn...

Master call-me-Jalen Forthsain had just finished dinner and was now preparing to tell Hadrian the history of the Flameborn, along with a few other things.

{My name is Jalen Flameborn, I have had others but that is my real name. This is Sarah Flameborn, one of my predecessors to the title of Duke or Duchess Flameborn. There are fifty-three of us. You are the the fifty-fourth Flameborn. When we die an imprint of ourselves appears here to help train the next Flameborn. None of us have died naturally, our youngest to Arrive was Samuel, at sixty-five physical years, our oldest was Tristan, at one thousand and two hundred physical years. I say physical years because time is meaningless here. When you leave here, you will return an instant after you left. No matter how long you spend here. It is quite useful.

Anyways, the Flameborn have been around for a very long time. The first Flameborn was appointed by the Lady Magic. She wanted to have an ambassador that could represent the magical creatures of the world, so She took a friend of Hers, a Daniel Palatine and bathed him within eternity flames. Now eternity flames are not part of the elements but rather pure energy that performs the same function. The eternity fire changed him and thus he became the first Flameborn. However, She soon realized that having more than one Flameborn at a time would upset the Balance that She was sworn to protect, so She created the three Fire Crystals and this place, the Flameborn Palace. It would be a place of refuge for Daniel and when he passed on, She created an imprint of him to train his successor. Do you understand?} Hadrian nodded, slightly overwhelmed. {Good! Let's begin.}

Time: three equivalent days after Arrival, Location: training fields, Flameborn Palace, Status: wiped out, Currently: cursing his teachers to the deepest depths of Hell, mentally

"I swear, Fate hates me!" Hadrian moaned, as he lay on the ground for the twenty-seventh time in a row. His teachers were 'helping' him to get stronger and his body was protesting, loudly. He was going to have some very large bruises by the time he got to bed.

Time: two equivalent weeks after Arrival, Location: archery range, Flameborn Palace, Status: sore, Currently: trying to hit the damn target and failing

"I'm supposed to be good at this! What's wrong with me?" Hadrian growled as he missed the target, again. "Why do I keep missing!?"

Meanwhile, in another corner of the field...

[Do you think we should tell him about the three week weak joke that has been played on every other new Flameborn?]

And miss the excitement that comes with the big reveal? Not a chance!

Time: three equivalent weeks, Location: Dining Hall, Status: tired of it all, Currently: eating food and thinking about beds

Daniel stood up, Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a confession to make to our newest member, Hadrian. Hadrian's eyes narrowed at the telepath, and wondered what new torture they had in mind for him. Hadrian, you must understand that this joke has been played on everyone here, including myself. The first time you come here your body is weak from its first encounter with the eternity flames. You have little to no muscle control for the first few hours and limited control for three weeks, then you are back to normal.

Hadrian scowled at the elder, "And you saw fit to not tell me this because...?"

As I said, it was a joke. That was the wrong thing to say as Hadrian's eyes started to glow. Most of the elders quickly vacated the hall, only two remained, Sarah and Jalen.

^We're sorry, Hadrian, that we couldn't tell you. They kept us away from you and wouldn't let us tell. They thought it would be funny.^ Sarah said, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Funny? I'll show them funny. You guys might want to make your own food for a while. I know some interesting potions that I can give them." The look on the Hadrian's face was enough to make them gulp and almost pity their elders, almost not quite.

Time: three equivalent weeks and one equivalent day, Location: Dining Hall, Status: vengeful, Currently: waiting...

All of the Flameborn elders were eating their food, Sarah and Jalen were in the kitchen and Hadrian had food on his plate that he wasn't eating. He was waiting for the potion to kick in. Suddenly, all of the elders sprouted donkey ears, an elephant nose and, for the grand finally, gained so much weight that their chairs broke underneath them. Hadrian started howling with laughter at the looks on the elders faces. Upon hearing the noise, Sarah and Jalen came out of the kitchen and quickly broke down laughing. Hadrian then left with the two to finish eating lunch and then they went out to practice in the field. None of the other elders tried to prank Hadrian again. The resulting payback was just to embarrassing.

Time: three equivalent years, Location: the library, Status: very good, Currently: practicing speaking other languages

~You are doing very well~ Shannon said, ~much better than most of us did when we first came and don't you let anyone tell you any different~

~I must admit that my gifts make it easier~ Hadrian hissed back, something that was second nature to him know. When his teachers asked him a question he was expected to answer in the same language. It made life rather interesting.

~No, Hadrian, your gifts are not making things any easier, you are just better at focusing than most of us. You are a very smart young man, Hadrian, don't depreciate yourself.~

~Yes, I suppose I have a smart mouth...~ Shannon laughed at him.

~That you do, wiseass, that you do.~

Time: ten equivalent years, Location: dueling yard, Status: happy, Currently: doing a manly victory dance

#Looks like I finally beat you, Carson# Hadrian said as he helped the other man up after their duel.

#That you did, Hadrian, I always knew you would be better than me. We will start uneven fights soon, you should do well.#

Time: fifteen equivalent years, Location: ritual room, Status: Exhausted but happy, Currently: cleaning up after a complicated ritual

You are very good at all that we have to teach you. In five equivalent years, you shall return home. Daniel said.

Time: twenty equivalent years, Location: the Fire Crystals, Status: fully trained Flameborn, Currently: preparing to leave

"I'll come back and see you as soon as I get to Phoenix Castle, okay?" All of the other Flameborn nodded, "I'll bring some new books for the library." Hadrian looked around at the others, "Well, goodbye." and he walked through the portal. He was back in real time now.

I know it has been a few days but I moved to a new family and restarted school and I am still lacking a decent amount of sleep. Trust me. The only reason this is finished is because I lost some sleep. Don't kill me, okay? I'm going to take a nap...

Anyways, I'd like to take a moment to thank some people...

Ecila Raveniz Thgilyad: I have been living in Brazil for six months, my English isn't the greatest.

antony37: Thank you for your review.

bobcox26: Fleur won't be in this story as a main character and well, I trust this last chapter answered your question about Hermione.

alix33: Three reviews in a row? Rock on! Glad you like it!

.Vinnie.D.: What muse? Oh, you mean the voices that tell me what to do all the time! :)

Kine X: Thanks for pointing that out! My Internet was crap for the last chapter, so looking stuff up wasn't an option. I'm in a better hotspot now.

ArrancarMaiden: Thanks for your review!

There will be goblins fall down on their faces in shock.

-The Seer


	5. Chapter 5: Buzzer

Chapter 5: Buzzer

"English"

+French+

telepathy

{elvish}

[goblin tongue]

~Paseltongue~

^mer language^

#centaur's language#

***Important Notice! Please read the Author's Notes at the end! Thank you.***

Hadrian straightened up and stepped back out of the mist that covered the entrance. He nearly ran into Bearclaw, who was obviously trying to follow him into the mists.

"Why don't we go to my other vaults?" Hadrian asked, smiling at Bearclaw's confusion. Together they walked towards vault number two.

"So, what happened?" Bearclaw asked and Hadrian just smiled at him with a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. Bearclaw was very confused, the angry young man that had gone into the mist had not returned, instead a cool headed warrior had come and he wanted to know the reason behind this change. He continued to ask the teenager what had happened but all he got for an answer was a smile. He started muttering in the goblin tongue about what he could do to get Hadrian to talk. Said boy's smile turned into a smirk and started getting wider with each insult.

[You know,] Haridan started, causing Bearclaw to look at him sharply, [you are fairly creative. I haven't heard some of those before and the other Flameborn are quite... creative.] Bearclaw misses a step and tumbles to the ground before sitting up and staring at the openly laughing teenager.

[ You can understand me?] Bearclaw asks, shocked, and Hadrian nodded, trying (and failing) to control his mirth.

[You should have seen your face!] Hadrian chortles, and Bearclaw hurumphs before marching towards the Emrys vault that was quite close, with a smile tugging at his own lips. Hadrian came behind him, still shaking with mirth. Using the key that Bearclaw had brought, the pair quickly entered the vault. After looking around at the inside, Hadrian grabbed all of the books and, using a wandless spell (he had long ago learned that he would need a different wand to channel his power), he copied all of the book before placing them in the shrunken trunks that he had placed in his pockets that contained all of his things from his trip to the Flameborn Palace. Examining the other objects within the vault, Hadrian decided that he would come back at a later time. This pattern repeated with each of the vaults until they got to the Black vault which, by silent agreement would go second to last with the Potter vault being the very last.

The cart slowed to a halt in front of the vault and Harry climbed out. He had had the equivalent of twenty years to figure things out and while he missed his godfather he no longer blamed himself for the man's death. Hadrian entered the vault.

"Well, it's about time!" someone said and Hadrian jumped, looking for the source of the voice, swearing in Parseltongue, elvish and just about any other language that he could think of. "Yo! I'm up here!" Hadrian looked at the wall of the vault and there, sitting like the cat that got the canary, was Sirius Orion Black, in his portrait.

"You sly dog!" Hadrian said, grinning at the sight of his godfather. "I should have known you would do something like this!"

Sirius laughed, "Well, Harry..."

"Hadrian."

"What?"

"I want to be called Hadrian, Harry is what the sheeple call me and I hope you are not one of the sheeple."

Sirius started laughing again at the term before continuing, "Well, Hadrian, it is a tradition of all purebloods to have a portrait made after they graduate Hogwarts. Your parents have one, it should be in their vault." Hadrian smiled, he could talk to his parents! "So, yes, did you attend my will reading?"

"I had my own private one," Hadrian said, glancing at Bearclaw who had come in behind him. "I apparently needed to calm down quickly after I learned that my so called friends had been stealing from me since my parents died." Sirius started muttering of color curses in French, which immediately cheered Hadrian up. Bearclaw recognized the smirk that was on the young duke's face and started to chuckle. +Thank you for those enlightening phrases, Sirius.+ Said portrait froze, looking down at the boy with a mixture of horror and awe on his face. +But shouldn't we get back to the topic at hand?+

"Yes, we should," Sirius said, "Where did you learn French?"

"Long story," Hadrian said, "I'll tell you later, can I take you out of the vault?"

"Bloody, bleeding, seven hells yes!" Sirius said, "Get my ass out of here! I want to go talk to Lily and James!"

"Patience, Black, I need to get the books first!" Hadrian smiled and quickly copied all of the books (but not the curses on them) and put them in another trunk. Then he carefully lifted his godfather's portrait and carried it out to the cart. Then, they went off to the Potter Vault.

Potter vault, several minutes and one incredibly rowdy Irish ditty from Sirius later…

"Sirius, would you shut up?"

"No," and he started to sing another song about an Irish red head with very big... Well you get the idea, before Hadrian silenced him and received a grateful glance from Bearclaw and the driver. Sirius quickly realized that no one could hear him, so he started pantomiming the song, much to the annoyance of everyone else in the cart.

Finally, they arrived at the vault and as soon as the cart stopped, Hadrian turned Sirius's portrait around so no one would have to watch his crude and rude godfather. He turned and watched as Bearclaw opened the vault, he stepped inside.

"Hello?" Hardian called.

"Harry? Is that you?" he heard a female voice say.

"Mum?" Hadrian turned and saw two portraits leaning against the wall of the vault.

"Sweetheart!"

"Prongslet!"

"Mum! Dad!" Hadrian said, smiling at the pair. But as he opened his mouth to start talking, Bearclaw cleared his throat. "Oh, yeah, right. We'll talk at home. We should go." Hadrian grabbed the books, copied them before carefully taking the portraits out to the cart. Then they were off.

Later, Bearclaw's office with all three portraits in special shrunken carrying cases...

"So, now that you can think rationally and have no fear of blowing things up, what do you want to do about the... thieves?" Bearclaw practically hissed the last word.

Hadrian looked Bearclaw in the eyes and said, "I want you to punish them to the fullest extent of the law but don't touch anyone that had nothing to do with it."

Bearclaw nodded, "Very well," he said and the two parted ways after making plans for Hadrian to attend the will reading in disguise. He quickly changed into the chosen disguise, a young man that was his height, with long orange hair that was several shades lighter than the Weasley's and silver-blue eyes (the color of eternity flames) with the name Duke Hadrian Flameborn (which would be what showed up on the confirmations of identity anyways). The young man then made sure that the Flameborn ring was the only one showing before he ventured out into the alley.

His first stop was Madame Malkins, getting new robes that benefited his station (a recommendation *cough* order *cough* from Sarah), then proceeded to Florish and Blotts, buying as many books as he could and asking for a catalogue. After a quick trip to get some potion supplies and another quick trip to a rather shady book store in Knockturn Alley, Hadrian was ready to make his final stop.

Ducking into a side alley, Hadrian changed back into 'Harry Potter' before heading into Ollivander's for a new wand, his old one had stopped working well when his true power was unleashed.

"Back again, Mr. Potter?" the elderly wandmaker said.

"Yes," Hadrian said, "I'm afraid that I recently discovered I had some rather extensive blocks on my magic and this wand no longer suits my needs."

The old man examined the wand before nodding, "Yes, so it would appear. You, Mr. Potter, need a new wand. I have just the thing, cherry and feather of a pheonix. No absolutely not!" this continued until Ollivander had eliminated every wand that he had made. "Difficult, well I always did love a challenge! Come with me, Mr. Potter." and he walked into the back room. "I want you to close your eyes and feel in these boxes, take whatever feels right, even if there is more than one in each box."

Hadrian did as he was instructed and closed his eyes. The first box had wand blanks and after selecting one, Hadrian moved on to the next box without opening his eyes. This box was more difficult but eventually he found several pieces.

"You, Mr. Potter, will be powerful indeed. Yes, your wand has seven components. For your wand you have Silver Wood, a tree that grows upon the Plains of Magic and can not grow anywhere else, then you have cores representing the four elements. Yes, for Earth you have a hair of a unicorn, for water you have a hair of a merman, for fire you have a pheonix feather and for air you have a griffin feather. Then you have an element that represents death, a hair of a thestral and last, but most certainly not least, you have eternity flames. Powerful wand, yes this shall be one of my most masterful piece."

Three hours later, the wand shop...

"Well, Mr. Potter, I think that you are easily the most powerful person on the planet," the old man said, startling Hadrian from his thoughts. "The wood refused to make a wand so instead you are left with this," and with a flourish, the wand crafter pulled out a beautiful staff. With a slight bow, the old wizard handed it to Hadrian and shielded his eyes at the gleaming silver and gold light that surrounded him and for just one second, Ollivander saw something that he would not be able to explain for sometime. A dancing flame lit the young man's hair. Eternity flames.

Some time later, Leaky Cauldron...

Hadrian flicked his shrunken staff and quickly packed his things before moving out of the room, his trunk in his pocket. After giving the key to Tom, Hadrian took a deep breath and left the mortal plain. When he stopped moving he had come to a rest on the ansesteral home of the Flameborn, created for them by the Lady Magic. Avolon, home of the elves and the Flameborn Palace!

Author's note! Read this it's important!

So, I know this chapter was mostly filler but it contains some stuff that you need to know. The next one will be much better. But anyways, I hope you people are reading this...

It is with great sorrow that I am forced to write this missive. During the time since I posted my last chapter I have received two guest reviews that were very degrading. The first mentioned that said reviewer's IQ dropped 50% after reading the chapter and the second started out by saying 'Dear delusional writer' and went on to degrade both my style, my plot and myself. This makes me feel rather bad about myself and I don't think anyone wants to hear things like that. People are enjoying this story, therefore I shall continue to write it. I am not forcing you to read it, the exact opposite is true. If you don't like the story or you think something should be changed, sign in, write a polite review and do everyone a favor. No one wants to find a degrading message in their inbox first thing in the morning, it isn't very fun. If you must flame me, I will block the guest reviews, I would prefer not to but if you are going to insult someone, at least have the curtsey of telling them who you are.

Thank you to my other reviewers:

female farrier- I'm going! I'm going!

alix33- Thank you for telling me. My English sucks and I haven't gotten enough sleep.

Kine X- Thank you for your review

Ecila Raveniz Thgilyad- Thank you for your review

anthony37- Don't worry, she'll get what's coming to her.

I Forsee a certain mutt laughing at everyone from beyond the grave.

-The Seer


	6. Chapter 6: Let in the Mutt

Chapter 6: Let in the Mutt

"English"

telepathy

{elvish}

[goblin tongue]

~Parseltongue~

^mer language^

#centaur's language#

«Fey Language»

+French+

%German%

‰Spanish‰

Hadrian looked up at the ancient palace that loomed in front of him. It was beautiful, he thought. The elves had obviously taken good care of the place. It practically thrummed with magic.

Hadrian had appeared in a small area that was obviously a transportation platform. Glancing around he heard the wind rustling in the trees and a waterfall that was somewhere nearby. A flowered hedge ran around the edge of the clearing with a small doorway. Hadrian took a deep breath and strode towards the exit.

Leaving the hedged area behind, he found himself in a lovely garden with river running through it. It cascaded down the terraced ground before flowing around the side of the palace, an elegant bridge spanned the waters. It looks like the home of a fairy, Hadrian thought, then he chuckled, no, not fairies, elves. The like of which had not been seen on Earth for nearly a thousand years.

Hadrian glanced at the sky, night would fall soon and he wanted to be inside before then. He walked towards the the glittering, silver-white marble palace. Then he heard a voice behind him.

{Are you lost?} the elf asked, looking at him with her sparkling eyes.

{No, I'm not,} Hadrian said, {I'm right where I need to be.} He showed teenage elf his ring and her eyes started to sparkle with tears.

{You've come,} she said, tears of happiness shimmering on her cheeks in the fading sunset, Hadrian nodded and before he knew it the girl had darted forward and given him a hug. {We've always known the Lord Flameborn would come back to us. I've always believed. My name is Ariel and I am training to be a warrior.}

{Many greetings to you, Ariel. I am known a Hadrian and I think you will make a very fine warrior.} He said, Ariel giggled before releasing Hadrian.

{Come, I'll take you to the elders. We've been waiting for more than a thousand years for this!} Ariel grabbed his hand and started to pull him towards the palace. Entering the glorious building, Ariel rushed past the various halls until she came to a stop in front of an impressive set of double doors. Pushing the door open the two entered the room and all of the elders stopped talking, looking up at the people who had interrupted their meeting.

{Ariel, I thought I told you that we were not to be interrupted.} one of the elders said, looking at the female elf.

{I'm sorry, father, but I felt that the elders should know immediately.}

{What should we know? And which of your friends did you drag into your harebrained schemes this time?}

{Father, elders, this is Hadrian, the new Lord Flameborn.} silence, no one moved, no one spoke and if it wasn't for the fact that no one passed out, Hadrian would have thought that no one was breathing. He raised his hand, showing his ring, the light catching on it from the shimmering balls of magic that lit the room. And you could see the difference in the elders, they sat up straighter, their eyes shined brighter, they had a purpose again. For too long the council of elders had sat forgotten in their home of Avalon, their children forced into slavery and never able to come into their true powers. But no more, the Lord Flameborn would not tolerate that, they would be free.

{Welcome, Lord Flameborn, we have eagerly awaited your arrival,} one of the elders said. Hadrian nodded to him.

{Tomorrow, I want you to gather all of your kin. I shall make an announcement to them.}

The elders glanced at each other, a glance that Hadrian did not miss, {As you command, my lord. Ariel, escort the Lord Flameborn to his quarters, we shall reconvene in the morn, it is late now.} Hadrian nodded, it was rather late.

{Very well, I shall see you in the morn.} With that, Hadrian followed Ariel out of the council room and into the hall. Ariel was nearly bouncing with excitement as she lead Hadrian down the gleaming corridors and into a spacious living area.

{This is the Lord Flameborn's suit, if you need anything, do not hesitate to ask.} Ariel said, her happiness clear in her voice, Hadrian couldn't help but smile, her exuberance was contagious.

{I shall, Lady Ariel,} his amusement evident in his voice as he gave her a slight bow. The tips of her pointed ears pinked and she smiled sheepishly. {I wish you a good night, lady warrior, I shall see you in the morn.} She bowed before backing out of the room with a smile on her face.

Hadrian looked around the room, it was simple but beautiful, rather like the home of the Flameborn that resided within the Fire Crystal. An elegant and powerful look had been created using the silver-blue color of eternity flames. The animated flames on the wall danced creating a feeling of belonging, one of the things that he would have missed about the Fire Crystal was the sense that he was never alone but as he looked at the flames that danced upon the walls, he knew that he would neve be alone again.

He smiled, the flames would never betray him.

The next day, the council room:

Hadrian had already unpacked early that morning, visiting the Flameborn for several equivalent days had taken a load off of his mind and he had made plans to visit Potter Manor to place his parents and Sirius' portraits. He had decided, with the help of the other Flameborn, to not tell anyone about all of his titles unless he had no other choice. Until further notice, Duke Flameborn and Lord Potter were two different people and no human, dead or not, could know otherwise.

He turned his thoughts back to the conversation at hand, the council members were trying to decided how much they should tell him about his powers and thought they were being sneaky about it by speaking in the language of the Fey, a race that resided on the far shores of Avalon but had only recently taught others their language. They had forgotten the true power of the Flameborn, thus he sat listening to the councilmen argue, you couldn't even call it a debate anymore, with an amused expression on his face. Finally, Hadrian had enough.

He turned to the nearest councilman and said, «You think they would remember that I can understand every language spoken. I mean, talking about me while I'm still here is rather rude.» You could cut the silence with a knife and Ariel's father grinned at him.

{Thank you, Lord Flameborn, for reminding all of us of the true powers of the Flameborn,} the elf smiled, {and seeing them put in their place is something that is long overdue.} Hadrian nodded to the elf.

{Yes, it would seem so. I have already acquired the knowledge of the other Flameborn, therefore there is no need to explain what I am.} Hadrian paused, gazing at the slightly guilty looking elders. {Have you gathered all of your kin?} the elves nodded, {good, we must go to them.} and the young duke gracefully carried himself out of the chambers, mentally preparing to make his speech.

On a balcony overlooking the Elves of Avalon...

{My friends,} one of the elders was saying, his name was Kameron, {it is with great pleasure that I announce the return of the Lord Flameborn!} There was a moment of shocked silence before the elvin people burst into applause, cheering for all they were worth.

Hadrian stepped forward and the cheering became even louder, if that was possible. Hadrian looked at the Elves of Avalon, they had not been doing well since the last Flameborn had died. There were so few, Hadrian wondered what could have happened to decimate their numbers like this. They may not be prolific but they had no trouble birthing a child. It worried him, what could have become of the once proud people? What could have happened to force them to remain on Avalon for the last one thousand years? He raised his hands, signaling for quiet, {My people, my friends, my brothers and sisters,} he began, using the phrase that every Flameborn used to first great the elvin people, {I come before you today to honor the tradition of the Flameborn who came before me! I come to you after a time of shadow, the longest we have been without a Flameborn! And this time was not easy but you persevered! You rose up and met the challenges and you survived! And now we shall thrive, restoring the elvin people to the glory that once was! I have returned, and together we shall become more than what we once were. We shall show the world the truth of what it means to be an Elf of Avalon!} And the crowd went wild.

Twenty-eight hours later, in the Flameborn suite...

Hadrian opened the door and dragged himself into the room, flopping onto the bed. The party had just finished. The other Flameborn had failed to mention that the elves loved to party and would do so for more than a whole day straight. Hadrian had stopped counting of the number elves he had met after his second drink. He had never been more grateful for his photographic memory than he had been after the numbers hit three hundred. He met every elf that lived in the kingdom and was once again struck by how few remained, less than two thousand elves still lived in Avalon. He would have to talk to the elders about what happened.

And speaking of elders, he would have to pay them back for abandoning him in the middle of the party and going to bed. That was just cruel and unusual punishment. The elders, Hadrian groaned, wanted to meet with him for lunch. He didn't have time to sleep, wait, time. Hadrian rolled off of the bed and staggered into the room that held the Fire Crystal. Placing his hand on the portal, Hadrian felt the slight burning sensation that came with the travel before he arrived at the home of the previous Flameborn. He promptly passed out.

The Flameborn Palace (Fire Crystal), the hospital wing...

^Good morning, sleepyhead, and how are we today?^ Sarah said, Hadrian glared at the overly happy Flameborn.

^I've been better. How long was I out?^

^Little over one equivalent day. What the hell happened to you? The only thing wrong with you was sheer exhaustion.^

^I found out the hard way that the Elves of Avalon are capable of throwing parties that last twenty-eight hours.^ Sarah's mouth dropped open before she started laughing.

^Only you, Hadrian, only you.^

Sometime later...

Hadrian stayed with the other Flameborn for several equivalent days, or equivies as some called it, before returning to Avalon. It was time for lunch with the elders. He made his way to the dining hall, relieved that Flameborn Palace was an exact copy of its namesake within the Fire Crystal, it made everything easier.

He entered the room, {Welcome, my lord,} Ariel's father, Yahir, said, with a slight bow. {Did you sleep well?} Hadrian lifted his eyebrow at the man's 'innocent' expression, well if he wanted to play, Hadrian would just have to beat him at his own game.

{Yes, I slept very well, thank you,} he replied, Yahir sputtered as he had just taken a drink.

{What! How? You... Party... Less than an hour? How?} he continued to sputter incoherently.

{Two words, my friends, two little words. Fire. Crystal.} the elders laughed at Yahir, who had now face palmed, shaking his head and muttering something about damn Flameborns and how they are eternally irritating. {Now, to business. Can anyone tell me why there are so few elves? The last records I have indicate that the population should be well over one hundred thousand. What happened?}

{Slytherin happened,} one of the elders growled.

{Salazar Slytherin? The founder?} the elves shook their heads.

{No, that Slytherin would never hurt us like that. No, it was his insane son, Salazar Slytherin Jr. The boy killed his father when he attempted to help several mundane-born to Hogwarts. He was mundane-born himself and his son hated the mundanes for no reason other than existing. After his father was dead, the bastard set about gathering followers to him, claiming that pure bloods were superior and such drivel. During his travels he came across one of the gates that lead to Avalon and he attempted to turn us to his use but we refused and so, he cursed us. Only the ones that remained here and their children are left. All of the others are bound forever, as House Elves. Only the Slytherin family can lift the curse and they won't help us.}

{Out of curiosity, if someone had won the house by conquest, would they be able to lift the curse?} the elves nodded, looking rather dejected and obviously wanted to change the subject. {Then I believe we can lift the curse.} The elves stared at him incredulously, a question evident in their eyes. In answer, Hadrian held up his hand, displaying his ring, which showed the Slytherin crest. {So, any ideas on how to end the curse?} Hadrian laughed as suddenly he was surrounded by elves in a large group hug.

{You would need to go to Earth and free each one while they do not have masters. You only have to say 'you are free' to them and it shall work.}

Hadrian smiled, {Well then, I think I need to make a trip to Earth.} The elves smiled at him.

{I'm afraid that we can not come with you. Part of the curse is that if we step foot on Earth we will be taken.} Kameron said with a sad smile.

{Then I shall go alone and free our brethren.} Hadrian stated as he stood, {I was planning to visit the home of my parents anyways, now I can place their portraits and free some elves at the same time.} The elders nodded to the duke before they dispersed, Hadrian practically sprinting up to his rooms in his excitement. It was hard to not be happy as word got around that he could break the spell. As he walked out to the portal to Earth, Hadrian heard blessings being shouted to him, wishing him luck on his mission.

Just before he reached the portal, Ariel stepped in front of him, {Good luck,} she said with a smile before she hugged the slightly shocked Flameborn, {You had better come back or else...}

Hadrian laughed and hugged the elvin girl back, {Don't worry, I have every intention of coming back, and in one piece too.} He gave the girl another hug before entering the portal.

One portal trip later...

"Why can't the rest if the world use portals? They don't make people sick like every other type of transportation wizards have. Sucks for them." Hadrian muttered before activating the portkey in his ring that would take him to Potter Manor. And, as usual, he ended up in a heap on the floor. {Damned wizarding creations! I hate those bloody things!} Hadrian proceeded to curse portkeys in every language he could think of as he picked himself up off of the entryway floor. After he had finished cursing the creators of the portkey, Hadrian called out, "Hello! Is anyone here?" There was a small pop and an elderly House Elf appeared.

"Master Harry Potter has returned! Coco is happy to have Master Harry Potter home!" the House Elf said in his high pitched voice.

"Thank you, Coco," Hadrian said, calmly, seething inside at the sight of a member of that proud race being forced to serve. "Please take my things to my bedroom and then gather all of the Potter House Elves. I wish to speak with them."

"Right away, Master Harry Potter, sir!" and he popped away. Soon afterwards thirty-seven House Elves popped into the hall. All very obviously excited about meeting 'Master Harry Potter'.

"Thank you for coming," Hadrian said and the elves started tearing up. "I am Harry James Potter, however I am known by several other names as well, I will spare you the details for now and give you the name that concerns you most, Duke Hadrian Flameborn." Silence and then all of the elves started to cheer. "Form a line and I shall free you from this curse!" In the end, freeing the Potter Elves was easier than he thought it would be, as the elves were each bathed in a glowing light from Hadrian's ring and changed to an Elf of Avalon. Hadrian quickly thought about his parent's portraits along with his friends. He knew that he could not reveal who he was to any humans, living or dead. It was too dangerous, not to mention that he could use the secret identity. Hadrian grinned, if he could keep it a secret, this would be awesome and if no one knew who he was... the possibilities were endless.

His grin diminished as he remembered his original reason for coming to the manor, freeing House Elves. And he had just the elf to free.

"Dobby?" Hadrian said, and with a small pop the slightly insane House Elf appeared in front of him.

"Master Harry Potter sir, choose to call Dobby? Dobby is so happy," Dobby began to cry looking at Hadrian with adoration in his eyes.

"Dobby, are you still free?" Hadrian asked the crying elf.

"No, Headymaster Dumbley bound Dobby to Hoggywart, Dobby not free." The elf once again burst into tears and Hadrian thought for a moment.

"Dobby," he said to get the sobbing elf's attention, he glanced at the newly freed Elves of Avalon and made a shushing motion, they nodded, showing they understood his need for quiet, "I, Hadrian James Potter, Lord of Hogwarts and Heir to the Four Founders, do hereby release the elf Dobby from service to the castle." The newly released elf started to cry again harder as the Avalon elves looked upon Hadrian with awe. Hadrian moved to complete what he came for, "I, Hadrian James Potter, Lord Slytherin, hereby free you, Dobby the House Elf." the light bathed the crying elf and when it cleared, showed a strong young elf that was proud of what he was.

"My lord?" the new and improved Dobby said, "Could you free Winky as well? She is my life mate." Hadrian nodded and soon there was a crying and free Winky clinging to her life mate while thanking Hadrian. He smiled at the elves assembled in front of him.

{My friends,} all of the elves stopped speaking and looked at him, {You are welcome to stay here or return to Avalon, I must warn you, if you choose to say here you must address me as Lord Potter, for humans in general are not ready to learn of my true identity. This goes for all of the time I look like 'Harry Potter'} Hadrian quickly demonstrated what he meant by that, {as well.} The elves nodded.

{We would like to stay here for now, Lord Potter,} one of the elves said.

"And that reminds me of another thing," Hadrian said, "'Lord Potter' does not speak any language other than English. So if you were talking in elvish near me and you just so happen to talk about something I need to know, well that would be an interesting coincidence, don't you think?" all of the elves started laughing at the cunning idea that their lord had. "I need to go to Gringotts and find out how many House Elves I own," Hadrian spat out the last word, his distaste at owning the beings obvious. "I will most likely be having guests after my godfather's will reading on the tenth, so we shall need to be prepared. Also, my parents' and my godfather's portraits are with my things upstairs, if you could find someplace to put them, I would be most grateful and if they have questions about why you are Elves of Avalon and not House Elves, tell them that the Duke Flameborn is friendly with me. That is more or less the truth." The elves bowed before Hadrian swept out the door.

Gringotts, Bearclaw's office...

[Well, Lord Peacekeeper, you certainly know how to stir up trouble, gone for less than three days and then you come back and start freeing House Elves. Nothing is ever boring while you're around, is it?] Bearclaw said, before he pulled out several portfolios, [We can't do anything with the Black estate until after the official will reading but the other estates, we can easily access, here we are...] Bearclaw continued, as he opened the first portfolio with the Hogwarts crest on it, [Well, for Hogwarts, you have one hundred and seventy-three House Elves,] Hadrian clenched his fists and Bearclaw had a rather dark look on him as he opened several other portfolios, [Gryffindor has fifteen, Ravenclaw has seventeen, Hufflepuff has nineteen, Slytherin has twenty-one, Peverell has two, Draven has eighteen, Potter has thirty-seven and Flamel has three.] Bearclaw tried to deliver the news in a clam professional manner but wasn't having much luck.

Hadrian was attempting to calm down and prevent an explosion, [I can't believe, wait, no I can believe Voldemort's ancestor could do that to the elves. I just don't understand how he could be related to Salazar Slytherin, the elves loved him along with the other founders. I just... Arg!] Hadrian put his head into his hands, [Do you have anywhere I can go to release the elves?] Bearclaw nodded and led Harry to a large cavern with an oval meeting table. [House Elves of Hogwarts, come to me,] and thus it began. Hadrian ended up freeing well over three hundred elves that day and he would soon shake the world upside down. After giving the elves the whole 'don't call me Duke Flameborn speech', Hadrian returned to Potter Manor. Time to meet his family.

Potter Manor, the living room, sometime later...

"Harry!" it was his mum. "Prongslet!" that was his dad and Sirius, as Hadrian entered the room.

"Mum, Dad, Sirius," Hadrian said, smiling at them in his 'Harry Potter' disguise. "How's life as a portrait?"

"Fine," Sirius said, with a smile before the Potters could open their mouths, "How's life treating you as a living, breathing piece of flesh?"

"Sirius!" Lily said but Hadrian just laughed it off.

"I'm fine, Padfoot," he said, then he looked at his parents.

"My baby's all grown up," Lily said with tears in her painted eyes.

James went for a different approach, "Son, how old are you?"

"I'm almost sixteen," he replied.

"Tell us about yourself," Lily said and Hadrian pulled up a chair, he knew that this would take a while.

"I must ask you to keep your questions to a minimum, I'm still trying to process some of the more... recent additions to my tale," the portraits nodded, "I was raised by the Dursleys..." and off he went, telling his parents almost everything from his life at the Dursleys' to all of his 'adventures' at Hogwarts to his most recent visit to Gringotts, leaving out the parts about most of his titles, especially the title of Duke Flameborn.

About three hours and one extremely emotional rollercoaster later...

The three portraits were now either sobbing their painted heart out (Lily) or shaking with anger (James and Sirius).

"I just... sob... don't think that sounds like... sob... Petunia," Lily cried, "she was such a nice person."

"Dumbledore," James growled, "it must be his fault! That bastard!"

"I knew some of it," Sirius said, angrily, "but this is just too far. He must pay! He harmed one of the Marauders, no one messes with the Marauders!" The other portraits nodded and Hadrian grinned evilly.

"Don't worry, Sirius, Dumbles will get his, I've already started the first part with the goblins. Now, it is getting late, I should be getting to bed. I have lots to do tomorrow, including making arrangements to retake my OWLs. I wouldn't want them to inaccurately record my scores."

It was July 6th.

The next day...

Hadrian finished writing the letter to the department of education requesting a redo of his tests. He would have to retake all of the tests but he had decided to add Arithmancy, Ancient Runes and Muggle Studies, along with the several OWLs that were not offered at Hogwarts, Languages, Crafting, Magical Crafting, Warding, Dueling, Music and Flying, as well. He smirked, he may have to put a camera in the Beaver Granger's room so that he could see her reaction when she found out that she had been beaten. It would be worth it then. He was looking forward to it.

The tenth of July...

Hadrian had spent the last few days jumping back and forth between Avalon, the Fire Crystal and Potter Manor and now it was finally the day of the will reading. Hadrian rubbed his hands together, smirking rather insanely. The portraits quickly left their frames to go visit parts unknown. Whatever Hadrian had in mind was something that they did not want directed at them. The powerful wizard practically skipped down to the entrance way before teleporting (a skill that came with being a Wind Mage) to Diagon Alley and entering the white bank at the far end. He walked up to the first teller he could see and politely waited for the goblin to finish what he was doing.

[Duke Hadrian Flameborn, here for the reading of the Lord Sirius Orion Black's will.] The goblin grinned as the other patrons stared at the young man in shock.

[Bearclaw warned us about you,] the teller said, [said you might pull something like this. Well, my lord, right this way,] and he lead Hadrian to a large room for the reading. He was the last to arrive.

"Ah, yes, you've arrived. Now we can begin," the unnamed goblin quickly consulted a list before nodding, "Yes, everyone is here, good. This is the Will reading of Lord Sirius Orion Black, his primary benefactor is Harry James Potter..." here the goblin was interrupted.

"I will be standing in for Mr. Potter," the senile headmaster said, before Hadrian cleared his throat.

"I'm afraid you will not be, Headmaster," he said, calmly, "Scion Potter has asked me to be his representative in all of his political matters."

"Who do you think you are?" the Bumbles asked, "I am the Chief Warlock of the..."

"And I don't care," Hadrian snapped, "I am Duke Hadrian Flameborn of the Isle of Avalon, Lord Peacekeeper to all Magical Realms and you have no power over me!" There was a brief staring contest before the old man turned away, wanting to get to the reading. "Please, good goblin, continue reading." The goblin nodded.

"Scion Potter will be represented by Duke Flameborn. I shall commence with the reading.

"I, Lord Sirius Orion Black, being of relatively sound mind and still sexy body, Moony, stop laughing!" Hadrian looked over at Remus and sure enough, the man was chuckling at his deceased friend's wit, he smiled as well. Even dead, the Marauder was still going strong. "Do hereby declare this my last will and testament, voiding all others. Now that we have the legalese out of the way. Goldpaw, if I died doing something incredibly stupid, you now owe Bearclaw three hundred galleons and I'm going to take a leap of faith and say pay up." Hadrian spotted Bearclaw and another goblin seated by the door, Bearclaw was laughing as Goldpaw handed him the bag of money, grumbling about stupid Blacks. "For my last acts the Head of House Black, I hereby annul the marriages of Bellatrix Lestrange née Black and Narcissa Malfoy née Black, welcome back to the family girls. I also reinstate Andromeda Tonks née Black into the family along with her daughter, Nymphadora Tonks. Nym, you can't hit me now!" Most people rolled their eyes at the old dog's comments and at the fuming Tonks. "I would also like to take the opportunity to disinherit one Draco Malfoy from the Black line and leave him with a single Knut." Ouch, insult to injury. "Goodbye, ferret and ferret senior, I don't want to see you again." The Malfoys were unceremoniously tossed out of the room.

"Now, we get to the good stuff, to Molly Weasley, I leave you the book 'How to Prevent Theives' with the hope that you can take a hint." There was a stunned silence as Molly went up to get her book. "Next, to Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, I give each of you a copy of the book 'True Friends' with the hope that you will stop your posturing." Silence, again reigned as they stepped forward. Dumbledore was beginning to get nervous, how much I'd Sirius know? "To Ginny Weasley, I leave you the book 'How to Avoid Sextual Diseases' and the advice to stop being suck a whore." This was very bad, Dumbledore thought. "To Arthur Weasley, I leave you two hundred thousand galleons that can't be touch by anyone but yourself or your heir and a note to watch out for your wife and two youngest children." Dumbledore gulped. "To Bill Weasley, I leave you several books on Cursebreaking from the Black Library. Have fun in life! To Charlie Weasley, I leave you several books on dragons from the Black Library as well. Don't get eaten, we like you!" There was some chuckles from that comment. "To Percy Weasley, I leave you an appointment with a goblin healer for immediately after this reading, which you must go to and a book about how to prevent mind control." Dumbledore started to sweat, how did Sirius know these things? "To Fred and George Weasley, I leave you two hundred and fifty thousand galleons... each, my notes on pranking (as I was Mr. Padfoot of the Marauders) and the orders to unleash hell!"

The twins got down of their hands and knees and, much to the amusement of almost everyone else started bowing to the will repeatedly saying, "We are not worthy, we are not worthy." The adults looked at each top other and gulped, this couldn't end well for them.

"To Remus Lupin, I leave Pinecone Hunting Cottage, two hundred thousand galleons and a request that you get some new clothes," there was some general laughter as the only living true Marauder received his bequests. "To Severus Snape, I leave you an apology. What we did to you was inescusable and you never deserved it. I am so sorry. I also leave you several of the more rare potions texts from the Black Library, in the hopes that you will one day forgive me, though I won't hold my breath. To Minerva McGonagall, I leave you one hundred thousand galleons and a warning, watch out for the big-headed-master. To Albus to many damn names Dumbledore," here it comes, the crazy man thought, the big reveal, "I leave you thirty pieces of silver and an order to stay the hell out of my godson's life!" Shit! The plotters thought, not good. "I also leave apointments with goblin healers to the following people: Arthur Weasley, Bill Weasley, Charlie Weasley, Percy Weasley, Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Minerva McGonagall, Narcissa Black, Bellatrix Black, Andromeda Tonks, Nymphadora Tonks, Severus Snape, Remus Lupin and Harry Potter to take place immediately after the completion of this will. The rest if my estate goes to Harry Potter, including the title of Lord Black. Signed, Lord Sirius Orion Black aka Padfoot."

Oh, crap, Dumbledore thought, as he glanced at the guards, we are skrewed.

Please don't hurt me! The chapter is up, it is nice and long, what more could you want? Ducks rotten tomatoe. Okay, I know it should have been up sooner but I had school to deal with and I got really sick this week, not to mention that this chapter was damn hard to write! I kept getting stuck. I hope you guys liked it!

To my reviewers:

Kine X- Thank you for your review.

anthony37- Me, too.

geetac- Thank you for your review.

horselovr- Appointment with a goblin healer equals Hadrian's ally/friend

Ecila Raveniz Thgilyad- Thank you for your review.

R- Thank you. You are one of the reasons I don't want to block guest reviews.

OrphanAnnie1166- Thank you for your review

Emailcat- Glad you like it!

ILikeComps- Thank you for sharing.

Zaidee- I have a limited amount of time to write so not all of my chapters will be very long, it depends on how much time I have that week.

Helenap- The sheeple will get their's, don't you worry.

ProgKiller- I don't mind long reviews, at least you're reviewing!

ROBERT-19588- I think you misspelled a few things but this should answer your questions, if the last chapter did not. I won't be using your idea with the magical painting, although it is a good one because I have another idea that involves obscene amounts of truth potion. Hadrian is quite powerful already and I need a few on the other side who can challenge him. As for all of Hadrian's friends, you shall see. I believe your other questions in the last chapter.

poolynn- Thank you for your review.

loretta537- I can't wait either! :)

glrt- Thank you for your review.

That's all folks!

I Forsee some bumbling around in a conversation about the Order of the BBQ.

-The Seer


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